Biographies W
William Benson Wickliffe
Meadow Hill Farm, west of Henderson, Kentucky, is the home of William Benson Wickliffe, one of the largest farmers in the Ohio River district, who is also a well-known attorney and successful business man.
William Benson Wickliffe was born on May 5, 1893, at Greenville, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, of old and honorable Kentucky stock. His basic education was received in the public schools of his home city, from which he went to Union University at Jackson, Tennessee, where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omicron fraternity. He received a B.S. degree from Union University, and then entered the College of Law of Harvard University, receiving his LL.B. degree there.
He began his law practice in Memphis, Tennessee, but the outbreak of World War I at the end of his second year of legal work interrupted his civilian pursuits. He immediately entered Officers Training School, but a physical defect necessitated his return to civilian life. However, he was inducted into the army later and served as a private during the remainder of the war.
At the close of the war, W.B. Wickliffe returned to Greenville and was superintendent and then manager of the W.A. Wickliffe Coal Company, of which his father was president. He still continues ownership, but has recently relinquished active management of his coal mining operations because of travel difficulties imposed by gasoline rationing. He is now devoting all of his enery and attention to the operation of 2,350 acres of land at Meadow Hill Farm.
Mr. Wickliffe is a member of a distinguished family. His father, William Arrington Wickliffe, was an attorney, widely known as Judge Wickliffe. In addition to being president of the W.A. Wickliffe Coal Company, he was president of the First National Bank of Greenville. His ability manifested itself at an early age, as he served as County Superintendent of Schools of Muhlenberg County when he was only nineteen years of age. His mother was Mary (Reynolds) Wickliffe.
On July 30, 1919, William Benson Wickliffe married Frances Louise Crutchfield. Mrs. Wickliffe was born on Meadow Hill Farm, near Smith Mills, in Henderson County. Her grandfather, Albert Gallatin Crutchfield, came to Kentucky from Virginia, making the trip on horseback with his bride. They originally settled in Oldham County, but later moved to Henderson County, where he became a large land owner. His son, A.G. Critchfield, Jr., the father of Mrs. Wickliffe, continued the farming operations started by his father, and was also president of the Smith Mills Deposit Bank. Mrs. Wickliffe's mother, Bessie Davis (Powell) Crutchfield, was the daughter of Elias Powell, and her grandfather, a brother of Governor Powell, was a very large land owner, owning over 10,000 acres. Meadow Hill Farm, the present home of the Wickliffes, is a part of that land.
Mrs. Wickliffe is a well-educated, cultured and charming woman. She attended Stuart Hall, Staunton, Virginia; Ward College, Nashville, Tennessee; and was graduated from the Kentucky College for Women at Danville, Kentucky. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames, and the Magna Charta. She presides over an exceptionally beautiful home, in which family heirlooms, joined with an abundance of books and all the conveniences and comforts of modern living make an ideal setting for family life. Their daughter, Frances Crutchfield Wickliffe, is a graduate of Gulk Park High School of Gulk Park, Mississippi. She attended Randolph-Macon at Lynchburg, Virginia for one year and is now at the University of Kentucky, Lexington.
Mr. Wickliffe is active in the Henderson County Farm Bureau, the American Legion and the Presbyterian Church. His political affiliation is with the Democratic Party. He is a cultured man, successful in all his pursuits, of inestimable value to his county and to his state.
Source: Wallis, Frederick A., and Hambleton Tapp, eds. A Sesqui-Centennial History of Kentucky. Vol. 4. Hopkinsville, KY: Historical Record Association, 1945. Pages 1953-1954.
Updated July 9, 2018